It can be difficult to singulate stress engineered substrates because the stored stress in the substrate is released during the singulating process which causes the substrate to shatter. Generally, a stress-engineered substrate is pre-cut to the final dimension and processed to produce stressed layers in the substrate before components are disposed on the substrate. However, individually processing single substrates is more expensive than batch processing a larger substrate. Thus, an approach is needed that allows the substrate to be singulated after stress layers have been formed and components have been disposed on the substrate.